BOOK III.
Chaos has taken over Ashton and Ria's reality.
Vincent has come out on top once again. Daniel is dead. Jared and Vivian are in captivity, back to the place where all of her nightmares lurk.
Their plan has failed miserably, leading them on...
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REALITY ESCAPES DEA as she lies awake in a cold hospital bed. The medication has since worn off and her senses have returned in a chaotic fog of grey and white. She's aware of everything and nothing at all. Omniscient and oblivious.
The love of her life, Sophia, rests next to her. Cool fingers have been brushing through her hair, attempting to soothe the grief that writhes within her. Crystal blue eyes haven't left her since...
Daniel.
Agony fills her lungs like untapped water threatening to drown her. Death lurks in the corner of the room, a shadowy mist that sneers and mocks her over the soul he's stolen.
"Fratellino," she rasps with tears staining her eyes. "Give me back my brother!"
"D-Dea." Sophia leans in with fatigue hanging under her eyes and fragility in her shaking bones. "They'll put you under again if you-"
"He took my brother!" She yanks away from Sophia's attempted comfort. "He took my fratellino." Her voice quivers as impending sobs crack through her lungs. With rage and grief conquering her waking limbs, she rises and yanks at her frizzing hair. "He has to kill him. Ashton has to kill him! He took my brother. W-we have to stop him."
"Dea, stop." Sophia fights past her rigidness and embraces her, drawing her into her scrawny frame. "W-we can't do that. I'm so sorry...but we can't."
"No. No! You don't understand," she cries and claws onto her shirt. "We have to stop him. We have to. D-Daniel is-"
"I know. I know...but we will find a way through this without...without killing people. We're not like that, Dea. We will turn him in, I swear."
"Turning him in is not an option." The sudden proximity of Ria's voice sends chills down Dea's spine.
She pulls away from Sophia and watches as Ria strides in with a vacancy that rivals her growing insanity. Fury burns her veins, intertwining with grief. They were supposed to protect him. They let him die. They saved their friends and let him die.
"I'm sorry," Ria whispers.
"How could you let him die?" Dea demands, hysteria breathing in her lungs. "You let him die! I-I know he did terrible things to everyone. I know," she wails. "B-but you didn't have to let him get murdered. He was sick! He needed help. H-he could have gotten better."
"I didn't-"
"You protected Vivian and Jared, but let my fratellino die!"
